JIMMY ANDERSON fought back tears as he bid farewell to cricket after a long and illustrious career.

The England legend had an emotional send-off at Lord’s after playing his final Test match.

The bowler became emotional when discussing his final match and his retirement after England beat the West Indies in the first Test of a three-match series.

His voice started to crack when he spoke to Sky Sports after the win, with Anderson admitting he was fighting back tears.

Anderson said: “I’m still gutted I dropped that catch. But it’s been an amazing week, I’ve been quite overwhelmed with the reaction from the crowd and everyone around the ground.

“I’m just proud of what I’ve achieved.

“This morning was quite emotional with the two teams lined up and the reaction from the crowd was pretty special

“I’m still trying to hold them (tears) back now. I think I’m just really proud of playing for 20-odd years…is an incredible effort especially for a fast bowler.

“So I’m just happy that I’ve made it this far. Happy to stay injury-free pretty much throughout my career.

“Playing for England is the best job in the world so I’ve been privileged to be able to do it for a long time.”

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Anderson, 41, almost capped off his brilliant career in the perfect way, but dropped a caught and bowled opportunity on the final wicket.

He was still England’s highest wicket-taker with four as his side thrashed their opponents, winning by an innings and 114 runs.

That means Anderson ends his career as the third-highest wicket-taker of all time with a haul of 704 – four behind legend Shane Warne.

He is England’s record wicket-taker by a margin of 100 ahead of Stuart Broad and the Test against West Indies was the 188th of his career – the second-highest total of any player behind Sachin Tendulkar.